


High Hopes Dragon Boops

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [59]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Animal Abuse, Blood, Blood and Injury, Chains, Gen, I totally didn't forget Zada existed for a moment there, Malark boops a dragon, Never - Freeform, Silver dragons, Sort Of, animal injury, i wanted to write this for a while today's just the day i finally did it, just dragons in general though, me? forget a character?, tws for:, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26398363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: What it says on the tin. I’m not kidding.Anyways, I heard about Malark trying to make friends with a wyvern that one time and all I want to do now is write a short little story about him booping a dragon.
Relationships: Malark Dundragon & A Random Silver Dragon, None, Well I guess - Relationship
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [59]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Kudos: 12





	High Hopes Dragon Boops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubbleDramatically](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbleDramatically/gifts).



They were curled up in a cave, and Malark could just barely see a massive lump of something hiding in the darkness.

It wasn’t for a _bad_ reason that High Hopes had settled in for the night. It was raining outside, and they didn’t know how far they were from the closest town. Rather than risk it, they had decided to make their way into the closest mountain and settle down for the night. Brio was sitting on a rock, plucking away a tune while Ryce leaned over her shoulder to look at whatever she was jotting down in her notebook. Nagar and Gimgar were trying to help Mina and Terra cook, while Ava was chatting with Paddy in another corner. The pair seemed to be having fun, even if they weren’t doing very much. Whatever they were talking about, Paddy was getting as animated as he always was, grinning brighter than the flames crackling in the pit they had dug out.

When Malark had heard the sound, it was only because he was starting to get a migraine and decided that spending time away from the chatter of his teammates would be good for him. So, he had wandered into the darkness, hearing his boots click on the hard stone beneath his feet. Somewhere deeper in the caverns, he could hear water dripping beyond the stalagmites and stalactites jutting out of the earth like teeth. He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath, freezing when he realised that the exhale sounded less like it came from him and more like it had come from the giant kind of bellows one could find in a blacksmith’s. Turning, he glanced back towards where the purple and grey rocks were lit with the golden glow of crackling fire. After a moment, the sound repeated. It wasn’t coming from where the others were, thankfully, and he slipped deeper into the cave to look around.

When he found it, he didn’t think it was anything more than a lump of dark stone at first.

The cavern opened up into a much larger one, with a pool of water at one end and glowworms dripping from the ceiling. Looking up, he paused. For a second, they had looked like the night sky, but the faint greenish glow to them proved him wrong. _Wow…very pretty._ He nearly stepped on the thing’s tail, when it exhaled again and shifted. Against his legs, rough scales grated against fabric, and he glanced over to see a glowing purple eye hold his gaze. Taking a deep breath, the creature let out a low growl. Holding up his hands, he tried to get a better look at it. Underneath his feet, the stone was gouged with claw marks. Dark blood stained the floor, and he glanced up when he realised the poor dragon was a young silver. A large band wrapped around its jaws, clamping them shut, and he could see where the scales had been burnt through in some areas.

Carefully, still holding up his hands to show he wasn’t a threat, he made his way over. The dragon let out a grating sound akin to a whimper, shifted away and folded its wings. The membrane had been ripped and torn in some areas, and Malark grimaced when he realised the beast had been caught in chains and a net. At some point, it had dragged itself into the cave and had been trapped there ever since.

When he knelt down towards where a point where the chains met, he realised he could see that it had been melted together. Underneath, more of the scales were rubbed raw and melted, and he winced audibly. “Okay, uh…stay right here. I’m going to go get someone to help.”

Reaching out, he gently touched the tip of the dragon’s nose, then ran back down the tunnel to where the others were.

When he got back, they all seemed to realise something was up. “Hey, Mask Man, where’d you go?” Gimgar teased, gesturing to him with a drumstick, and he frowned and then glanced back at the cave, trying to figure out how to explain it. Immediately, he heard movement—Paddy had gotten to his feet.

“Malark?” There was concern leeching into the wood elf’s tone. After a moment, Malark cleared his throat awkwardly and laughed.

“Uh…do you remember the wyvern from a while back?” When everyone shot him looks, he hurriedly continued, “It’s not a wyvern! It’s…it’s a silver dragon, and I need some help with it. It’s trapped.”

“Malark, what did you _do_?” Zada demanded, returning from…wherever she had gone earlier. (Malark had a feeling she was either praying or going to the bathroom, and he wasn’t going to ask either way.) Crossing her arms, she stared him down, and he stared right back.

“I didn’t do anything. There’s a young silver dragon back there and it’s wrapped up in chains. Really badly hurt, too. There’s no way I can get it out—think that we might be able to help it?” Everyone glanced between each other, and he saw several shrugs of “why not?”

A few minutes later, they left Ryce and Brio watching over the food, and everyone else followed Malark into the tunnels to help with the dragon. When they got to the cavern, it was still lying there, and he immediately went to its face with Paddy a few steps behind him. Crouching down, he touched its jaw, and purple eyes opened to meet his own blue after a moment. “Hey. I brought some friends.”

Growling what he guessed was probably a “thank you”, the dragon shifted and let its bound jaws rest in Malark’s hands. Smiling, he gently stroked along the bridge of its snout, and it exhaled a few times. Gimgar and Nagar started working on the chains, and he could see the dragon start relaxing when its bindings were slowly removed. Eyes closed, it shuddered its wings and then snorted as soon as its face was free. It raised its head to the sky, purple eyes glowing in the shadows, and then slowly got its legs beneath it. When it was standing, it shook its whole body, then turned to look back at Malark.

Leaning in, it bumped its head against his chest, sending him stumbling back a little way. Snorting in what he knew just _had_ to be laughter, it turned and then spread out its damaged wings. Zada had her hand on its shoulder, still healing it. Once she stepped back, it shook itself again, growled, and then took off. Rock dust scattered down around them as it flew away, disappearing with a flash of silver scales into the deeper caverns.

Smiling, Malark watched it go.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my obligatory “Malark booped a dragon fic”.


End file.
